Name: ________________________
The 8 Stages of Development
Additional Background Information
Psychologists have studied the relationships between these milestones of human aging and
emotional and social development. They have developed theories about how personalities
develop. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), considered the father of psychoanalysis, wrote that an
individual's personality development depends on the resolution of conflicts between childhood
sexual urges and demands of society. He said that human development included five distinct
stages. Modern psychologist Erik Erikson refined and expanded Freud's theories into eight stages
of development. He focused on the influence of society and culture on human personality
development.
Erik Erikson was born in Germany in 1902. In grammar school he was teased for being Jewish.
At an early age Erikson did not feel comfortable as a German or as a Jew. This feeling was the
basis for his notion of an "identity crisis," which he would define later when he became a
psychologist. In the 1920s he met Anna Freud, a psychoanalyst and Sigmund Freud's daughter.
He studied child psychoanalysis under her in Vienna. In 1933 he moved to the United States,
where taught at Harvard, Yale, University of California at Berkeley, and other institutions.
Erikson died in 1994.
He wrote that each stage of a person's life is characterized by a different psychological crisis that
must be resolved before the person can successfully progress to the next stage. The success of
each stage depends on how well the previous crisis was resolved. If a person does not resolve a
crisis, it will continue to affect the person's development throughout life. Erikson's theory of
psychosocial development is widely accepted by psychologists today.
1. Brainstorm the physical, emotional, and social developmental milestones (baby’s first
steps, marriage, etc.) of human beings.
2. Draw a personal timeline that begins with birth and ends with death. Write your
milestones on the timeline. Do not make your timeline a straight line, include personal
highs and lows that have happened in your life.(30)
3. Once your timeline is complete identify whether each milestone is physical, emotional,
social, or a combination. (8)
4. Apply the eight successive stages and the conflict that must be resolved to your timeline
using a different marker color. (8)
Stage
Conflict
1. Infant
Basic trust vs. basic distrust
2. Toddler
Independence vs. shame and doubt
3. Preschooler/Early
Childhood
Initiative (follow through with a task) vs. guilt
4. School Age/Play
Industry vs. inferiority (beneath)
5. Adolescence
Identity vs. role confusion
6. Young Adulthood
Intimacy vs. isolation
7. Adulthood
Generativity (independent ability to create, generate, or produce
vs. stagnation)
8. Old Age
Ego integrity (self-esteem) vs. despair (hopelessness)
Total=
/46
Discussion Questions
You may work with a partner to discuss and answer these
questions. Record answers in your journals.
1. What are the significant relationships in each of the first five
stages of a person's life? How do changes in these relationships
reflect social and psychological changes in a person's life? (5)
2. Look closely at Erikson's fourth stage. Do you think he
correctly identifies the primary struggle for school-aged
children? From your own experience, do you think there might
be another way to explain the fundamental changes that occur
during this stage of life? (5)
Reflection- choose ONE of the following
1. Describe an “identity crisis” you have struggled with in
your own life. As you define your own identity, what are
the different roles you must integrate? (Examples:
daughter, teammate, worker, student, or boyfriend.)
Where do you find inspiration? (Examples: specific role
models, events, or beliefs.) Describe pressures that can
make it difficult to define your own personality and
beliefs.
For example, stage 4, school age, is when children begin
school and learn new skills. If this stage is met
successfully, a child will develop a sense of competence.
He or she is more likely to feel confident about learning
new subjects in school, talking in class, and taking on
new challenges. If not, he or she will develop a sense of
inferiority, may be reluctant to ask questions, and could
fall behind, feeling stupid or discouraged. (10)
2. Reflect on examples of teenagers struggling to define
their own identity? Why do they think an identity crisis
occurs for most people during their teenage years? What
are basic skills and values that are necessary to
successfully resolve an identity crisis? (Examples:
confidence, trust, competence.) (10)